mcgill_ev_alumnifandomcom-20200214-history
McGill EV Alumni
'Welcome to the McGill EV Alumni Wiki' Hello fellow EV and HEV fanatics! I've created this wiki for new EV team members to learn about the history of MHRT, MEST, and MFE. Hopefully this will prompt new newbies (or oldies) to reach out to aging members that are willing to lend a hand. Let's keep this forum about the team and leave the job postings and other shenanigans to the forum. This Alumni association will hopefully help us to keep in touch a little better in the future. Please feel free to edit the descriptions and add more info. Cheers!! Romain 'McGill Racing Team History MHRT' Blurb in the same vein as: The team was founded in... First members included Simon Ouellette... Racecars Five iterations of the racecar were built between 2006 and 2012 FSAE Electric Demonstration (2005-2006) As part of a Mech Eng project lead by Matt Gignac (FSAE captain) and sponsored by VERT (Vehicle Engineering Research and Technology Transfer, led by Simon Ouellette and Peter Radziszewski), MRT7 was purchased from McGill FSAE and converted to a pure-electric drivetrain, using a 48V lead-acid battery pack, and independent rear wheel drive, each wheel getting an Alltrax DC motor controller, Etek DC motor (pancake style, similar to PMG 132 but 48V), and pulley-style CVT as used on the electric snowmobile. This vehicle was invited to a demonstration with the University of Dartmouth during the spring of 2006, leading to the first Formula competition the following year. MHRT 1.0 2007-2008 For the first year of Formula , the all-electric FSAE mech eng project was updated in a number of ways. The 48V lead acid battery pack was replaced with a 72V lithium ion pack, comprised of the same Lithium Technology Corporation cells used on the electric snowmobile at the time, but split into two modules fit under either side-pod. The 48V Etek motors were replaced with 72V PMG 132 motors, although the Alltrax controllers and CVTs were left unchanged. The generator system that had been developed that year for the first snowmobile as part of Jeff Turner's Mech Eng project was quickly transferred over to MHRT immediately after the SAE Clean Snowmobile Competition. The genset was comprised of a Subaru EX-21 211cc single cyclinder four-stroke engine directly coupled to a third PMG 132 motor. There were no controls on the genset - the throttle was pinned to max the whole time, and the engine maxed out at a speed where the PMG's output voltage was just a bit shy of the battery's max voltage. The PMG was delicate with high temperatures and did not like being connected to a hot engine. After frying one during the snowmobile competition, we tried isolating it thermally from the engine with a silicone thermal break with mixed results. We eventually switched the genset PMG out for an ME0709 which was more robust, either for 2008 or for MHRT 2.0. MHRT 1.0 placed first overall in the first two years of the FSAE Formula competition in Loudon New Hampshire (2007 & 2008 competitions). The car was also featured in the Discovery Channel's "Mean Green Machines" TV show, where it was compared to a go-kart running a 7hp engine, filmed at Mosport a few days before the UofT Shootout in September 2007. We returned to Mosport in September 2008 to compete in the UofT Shootout for the first time. . . MHRT 2.0 2009 In 2008 the rules forced all teams to have chassis that were built within the last 3 years. Therefore the MHRT team had to rebuild a new chassis from scratch. The first iteration kept the same powertrain as MHRT 1.0 with slight modifications to the generator set. An intelligent /data acquisition system was added, the National Instrument CRIO which allowed the car to do several things including torque vectoring and playing the song "party all the time" from Eddie Murphy, which is the theme song to the MHRT. The car placed 4th overall in the 2009 Formula competition after struggling with issues with the generator system. MHRT 2.5 2010 The car was modified (same base chassis as MHRT 2) in 2009 for the 2010 competition receiving a new body, a modified generator as well as new AC motors & controls (AC-15 and Curtis 1236). A significant amount of weight was also dropped from the vehicle by removing the CVT transmission system and using a direct gear and sprocket system instead. A new, redder body also helped with weight reduction. For some reason, during Tech Inspection, the main roll hoop tubing was found to be too thin, even though it was the same chassis as the previous year. The car was partially disassembled, and Adam Laidlaw and Joey Odman double-teamed it and welded straight portions of angle iron all along the roll hoop, and we passed tech the next morning. It looked awful but kinda badass like a stegasaurus. The car placed 8th overall at the 2010 competition, once again due to issues with the generator set. MHRT 3.0 2011 MHRT 3.0 used the same powertrain components as 2.5, but used a different chassis. The chassis of MRT11 was chopped at the roll hoop and a new rear section was added. The cockpit had carbon fiber sidewalls which proved to be a challenge to work with. day or two before comp, the genset coupler partially broke after a quick reassembly forgot to tighten some screws :(. No time to order a new before comp so we left anyways. At comp, we basically welded a coupler together but it had no damper.. the engine probably loved that!---This was MHRT 3.5 Fun thing during this comp is when we witnessed true american cops body checking a drunk homeless man in the lobby of the hotel. The cop then turned to us and said:"that's how we do it in america"! Lol. MHRT 3.5 2012 Blurb Previous members Electric Snowmobile History MEST Blurb in the same vein as: The First version of the electric snowmobile was a result of a mecheng project in 2005? (JT: early than that, not sure how much, ask Simon) ... It was called Wendigo after the evil spirit native to the northern forests of the Atlantic Coast and Great Lakes Region of both the United States and Canada/Manitoba Snowmobiles Ten Prototypes of the electric/ snowmobiles have been built since 2005 making this project the oldest of all McGill EV ventures. Wendigo 2005 Last year using lead-acid batteries - Hawker Genesis. Wendigo 2006 This was the year we made the switch from lead-acid to lithium-ion batteries. LTC cells, 45Ah, arranged 20S1P to 72V. The motor was some crazy brushless DC setup, and fuse on the motor's circuit board shorted out during the competition. We had no idea what was wrong, so Oli just started poking around on the board and saw what looked like a blown fuse. We ordered a fresh one off of digikey, got it delivered the next day and we were back up and running. . . I don't know where this belongs, but why not: . . . . Wendigo 2007 Replaced the BLDC motor with a PMG132. Integrated the battery into the engine compartment. This was also the year of the first snowmobile. Used the same LTC cells, but 60 cells total, 20S3P for 9kWh, mounted on the back behind the seat. The main drive motor was a 25hp "Advanced DC", series wound DC with an motor controller. The generator was a Subaru EX-21 211cc four stroke directly coupled to a PMG-132. The PMG overheated and seized during competition, so we the vehicle operated as an electric snowmobile with a bigger battery, although we could at least fire up the engine for the noise test. Jeff Turner rolled it during the objective handling event cause he was an idiot who pushed a little too far sometimes and because it was pretty top-heavy with a 9kWh battery mounted out back. . . . . . . . Wendigo 2008 Blurb Wendigo 2009 Blurb Wendigo 2010 Blurb Wendigo 2011 Blurb Wendigo 2012 Blurb Wendigo 2013 Blurb Wendigo 2014 Blurb Hybrid Snowmobile 2008 Blurb. Previous members 'McGill Formula Electric History MFE' Born from the technology inherited from MHRT, MFE is McGill's first full electric racecar and the most recent of the three McGill EV family. The first iteration was designed in collaboration with MRT, after attempting to merge both teams 2012-2014. In the end, the teams parted ways and which is when the umbrella of McGill EV was born. Electric Racecars Currently the main effort of McGill EV. Three cars have been built so far. MFE 1.0 2012-2014 Blurb MFE 2.0 2014-2015 Blurb MFE 2.5 2015-2016 Blurb MFE 3.0 2016-2017 Blurb Previous members Category:Browse